.png)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Rents have risen and inflation has made life more expensive over the past few years.
Even so, many jobs in Portugal remain unfilled, with some paying well by local standards and others offering salaries that come surprisingly close to U.S. levels.
The best jobs for Americans in Portugal are typically found in tech, healthcare, engineering, and skilled trades, where employers continue to look for qualified workers.
If you're planning a permanent move or traveling to explore opportunities first, staying connected makes the transition much easier.
With a GigSky One eSIM subscription, you can set up your eSIM before you fly and land in Portugal with the internet already working.
You'll stay connected across Portugal and 120+ other countries on a monthly plan you can cancel anytime, so finding your next job, navigating your new city, and settling into life abroad is one less thing to worry about.
Demand: Very high
Salary range: National median roughly €32,000 to €40,000. Mid-level lands around €28,000 to €45,000, senior €45,000 to €60,000 and up. International firms and specialized roles push past €70,000 to €90,000, and Hays lists senior specialized tech profiles at €70,000 to €80,000.
Portuguese: No, often English in multinationals and startups
This is the one where the numbers get closest to home, and it tops most lists of best-paid jobs in Portugal.
Portugal doesn't have enough developers for the fintech, product, and software-services firms setting up here, and OECD and IEFP data both show tech vacancies that just sit open. So they hire abroad, and English is usually fine.
Lisbon and Porto are where it happens. Company career pages at the international firms and scale-ups are worth a look, so are Hays, Michael Page, and Robert Walters. LinkedIn and EURES list plenty, and a lot of ICT roles get the faster Green Lane treatment through IEFP.
Demand: Very high
Salary range: Hays puts senior specialized cyber roles at €70,000 to €80,000, with monthly offers commonly in the €2,800 to €5,000 range (about €39,200 to €70,000 a year). Leadership and technical-direction roles can clear €90,000.
Portuguese: Helpful
Threats keep rising and the rules keep tightening, but the pool of analysts who've actually done the work isn't keeping up. Banks feel it most, then the bigger tech firms and public bodies. That gap is a good part of why the money sits where it does.
Financial and tech companies in Lisbon and Porto, security consultancies, managed-security shops.
Hays and Michael Page both recruit here, and you'll find these under the ICT shortage categories on EURES and IEFP.
These are among the most accessible jobs in Portugal for Americans because English is common on security teams.
Demand: Very high
Salary range: Roughly in line with senior software pay. Hays lists seniors at €70,000 to €80,000, and monthly offers tend to run €2,700 to €4,800 (about €37,800 to €67,200 a year).
Portuguese: No
Everyone's migrating to the cloud and everyone needs someone to keep it from falling over.
There aren't enough of those people. Run production systems at scale and you're exactly who's hard to find right now.
Tech companies and transformation projects in Lisbon and Porto, cloud providers, big enterprises modernizing their stack.
Specialist IT recruiters and the EURES and IEFP ICT channels get you in fastest.
Demand: Very high
Salary range: Monthly offers around €2,000 to €3,500 (about €28,000 to €49,000). Technical and mid-level engineering generally sits at €40,000 to €60,000, and Hays lists construction coordination and direction at €80,000 to €100,000.
Portuguese: Usually required
Construction has one of the worst staffing squeezes in the country. Roughly 75% of firms tell OECD and INE that a lack of skilled staff is their biggest obstacle, and with all the housing, infrastructure, and EU-funded work in the pipeline, an experienced engineer doesn't wait long for a yes. Few jobs in Portugal have a wider gap between open posts and people to fill them.
Big construction and engineering contractors carry these, strongest in Lisbon, Porto, and along the main infrastructure corridors. Try company career pages, construction recruiters, IEFP Green Lane listings, EURES, LinkedIn.
Demand: High to very high
Salary range: Aligns with Hays senior specialized data roles at €70,000 to €80,000, with broader senior software bands applying too. Public role-specific data past the sector level is thin.
Portuguese: Helpful
Every firm wants to be doing something with AI now, and the digital-transition money is there to pay for it. What's missing is people who can actually ship a model instead of pitching one.
Tech firms, banks, retailers, analytics consultancies, mostly Lisbon and Porto. Specialist data and AI recruiters, LinkedIn, plus the data-related EURES and IEFP listings and the newer Green Lane categories.
Demand: Very high
Salary range: GPs and family doctors often see monthly offers around €2,800 to €5,000 and up (about €39,200 to €70,000+). Public SNS base pay tends to run lower, while locum, private, and specialist work can go substantially higher.
Portuguese: Usually required
The country is getting older, the public health service is stretched, and Portuguese doctors keep leaving for better pay elsewhere. Medical posts are some of the most persistent job vacancies in Portugal, year in and year out.
Hospitals and primary-care centres are left with posts they can't fill. Before you get too far ahead of yourself, though, recognition through the Portuguese medical body is mandatory, and it isn't quick.
SNS hospitals and health centres everywhere, private hospital groups, and agencies that specialize in placing international physicians. IEFP lists the healthcare shortage occupations and EURES carries the roles.
Demand: Very high
Salary range: General nursing offers run around €1,350 to €1,900 a month (about €18,900 to €26,600). Specialists see €1,800 to €2,600 (about €25,200 to €36,400), with supporting data showing averages from the high teens into the mid-€30,000s.
Portuguese: Usually required
Nursing shows up on the IEFP shortage list year after year. Unfilled posts everywhere, worst in the specialized units.
Just know the pay lands well below what doctors make, so this is a move that makes more sense for life than for the paycheck.
SNS hospitals and primary-care units nationwide, private clinics and hospital groups, international nursing recruiters, the IEFP Green Lane healthcare listings, EURES.
Demand: High to very high
Salary range: Hays lists construction coordination and direction at €80,000 to €100,000.
Portuguese: Usually required
It isn't only the site engineers who are scarce. The people who can actually run a complex build and land it on schedule are just as hard to hire, and the big contractors know it.
Major construction and engineering groups, project-by-project hiring on public and private works, construction recruiters, LinkedIn, company career pages, and the IEFP and EURES construction-management listings.
Demand: Very high
Salary range: Monthly offers around €1,350 to €2,300 (about €18,900 to €32,200).
Portuguese: Helpful
Certified welding sits on the shortage list outright. Construction, shipbuilding, and manufacturing all say the same thing, that they can't find enough certified people for structural and industrial work. The upside is a good cert travels, so what you earned it on back home still counts here.
Construction contractors, metal-fabrication workshops, industrial plants, with the north and centre busiest. IEFP Green Lane metal-trades listings, industrial recruiters, EURES.
Demand: High
Salary range: Hays lists technical and mid-management engineering at €40,000 to €60,000, and automation and maintenance roles feel upward pressure inside that band.
Portuguese: Helpful to usually required
Manufacturing and energy both want engineers who can handle automation, maintenance, and process work, and both are short. Plant-floor experience is what gets you noticed, especially up in the industrial north.
Industrial companies, automotive suppliers, energy firms, engineering consultancies, mostly northern Portugal and the industrial zones. Hays, Michael Page, LinkedIn, and the IEFP and EURES engineering listings.
Demand: Very high
Salary range: Monthly offers around €1,250 to €1,900 (about €17,500 to €26,600).
Portuguese: Helpful
Not enough qualified electricians to go around, and that slows down projects and plant work alike. Show up certified and you get picked up fast.
Construction firms, industrial maintenance contractors, electrical installation companies nationwide. IEFP Green Lane craft listings, specialist trade recruiters, EURES.
Demand: High to very high
Salary range: Monthly offers around €1,600 to €2,700 (about €22,400 to €37,800).
Portuguese: Helpful
The solar and wind build-out, plus offshore just getting started, is running ahead of the training pipeline. If you can install or service PV and turbines, there's room to grow with the sector rather than just fill a slot in it.
Renewable developers, EPC contractors, and operations-and-maintenance companies. The Alentejo, the centre, and the northern coast are busiest. IEFP Green Lane renewables listings, energy recruiters, company career pages, EURES.
Demand: High to very high
Salary range: Monthly offers around €1,300 to €2,000 (about €18,200 to €28,000). Hays lists industry production, maintenance, and quality managers from about €45,000 upward.
Portuguese: Helpful
Metal and machinery trades are a top shortage category on IEFP's list. Manufacturers keep saying the same thing, that they can't keep the lines fully staffed with skilled operators and mechanics, and the gap isn't narrowing.
Manufacturing plants, metalworking shops, automotive-supply companies, mostly northern Portugal. IEFP metal-trades and industrial listings, industrial recruiters, EURES.
Demand: High
Salary range: Hays lists senior finance control, risk, and compliance at €60,000 to €90,000.
Portuguese: Helpful to usually required
Banking, fintech, and corporate finance keep getting more regulated, and that keeps a steady demand going for people who've done the work. It's low-volume, so openings aren't constant, but the ones that appear are among the best-paid jobs in Portugal outside pure tech.
Banks, fintechs, insurers, and large corporates, almost all in Lisbon. Finance recruiters like Hays, Michael Page, and Robert Walters, plus LinkedIn and company career pages.
Demand: High
Salary range: Hays lists industry roles from about €45,000, and they can clear €60,000.
Portuguese: Usually required
Factories live and die on operational know-how, and the managers who can keep a line stable are genuinely thin on the ground. Run a floor before and that reads straight across.
Industrial and manufacturing companies in the north and centre, industrial recruiters, LinkedIn, company career pages, and the IEFP industrial channels.
Demand: High
Salary range: Hays lists planning, operations, and direction roles at €45,000 to €70,000.
Portuguese: Helpful
Supply chains got shaken up after the pandemic and haven't fully settled, while logistics and retail kept growing. Planners and managers who can squeeze efficiency out of the whole thing are what companies are after.
Logistics operators, retailers, manufacturers, and third-party logistics providers near Lisbon, Porto, and the big ports. Supply-chain recruiters, LinkedIn, company career pages, EURES.
Demand: High
Salary range: Monthly offers around €1,250 to €1,800 (about €17,500 to €25,200).
Portuguese: Helpful
Not enough licensed heavy-goods drivers, and it shows up in distribution and construction logistics both. Hold the right license and the work is steady.
Logistics and haulage companies nationwide, transport associations, IEFP driver listings, transport recruiters, EURES.
Demand: High
Salary range: Role-specific public figures are limited in the open Hays summaries, though the sector pressure is real.
Portuguese: Usually required
When the labour market is this tight, companies lean hard on the HR partners and payroll people who can handle retention, compliance, and cleaning up messy processes. The published salary data is thin, but the demand isn't.
Medium and large companies across sectors, mostly Lisbon and Porto. HR recruiters like Hays and Michael Page, LinkedIn, company career pages.
Demand: Moderate to high
Salary range: Hays lists commercial directors and key account managers at a €50,000 to €80,000 base, plus variable pay.
Portuguese: Helpful to usually required
Growth sectors want salespeople who can carry complex B2B accounts and sell technical products. These roles stay competitive, so what you've closed matters more than how long you've been at it.
Industrial, tech, pharmaceutical, and service companies in Lisbon and Porto. Sales recruiters, LinkedIn, company career pages.
Demand: Moderate to high (emerging)
Salary range: Specific public data is limited. Engineering bands of €40,000 to €60,000 mid-level, or higher for specialized levels, are the reasonable expectation.
Portuguese: Helpful
Offshore wind and maritime work more broadly are expanding, and the current workforce doesn't fully cover the specialized technicians and engineers that opens up.
Early days for the field here, which means room to grow with it rather than slot into something already crowded.
Offshore-wind developers, shipyards, and maritime service companies in the north and along the coast. Energy and maritime recruiters, the emerging IEFP Green Lane categories, company career pages, EURES.
Demand: Moderate to high
Salary range: Aligns with Hays engineering at €40,000 to €60,000 for technical and mid-level roles, with specialized tech pushing higher.
Portuguese: Helpful
Factories are modernizing and Industry 4.0 money wants engineers who can design and maintain automated systems, but local supply hasn't caught up. Another one where getting in early means growing alongside the sector.
Advanced manufacturing and automotive-supply companies in the north, engineering and automation recruiters, LinkedIn, company career pages, IEFP industrial and engineering listings.
Demand: High (hospitality)
Salary range: Monthly offers around €1,350 to €2,100 plus tips, and often accommodation (about €18,900 to €29,400 base).
Portuguese: Helpful
Kitchens are always short on skilled hands, and the ones who can hold quality all year, not just carry the summer rush, are the ones worth hiring. Base pay looks modest on paper. Add tips and a room, and the math changes.
Hotels, restaurant groups, and resorts in Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve, and the main tourist areas. Hospitality recruiters, the IEFP seasonal and hospitality listings, company career pages, EURES.
Start with IEFP (iefponline) and the EURES portal for official shortage-occupation vacancies, since many of those qualify for faster Green Lane processing. That is also where the real job vacancies in Portugal surface first, ahead of the general boards.
Specialist recruiters, Hays Portugal, Michael Page Portugal, Robert Walters, and Randstad, place both local and international candidates in most of the roles above, and LinkedIn stays the most active network for mid- and senior-level openings in tech, engineering, and finance.
If you are weighing jobs in Portugal for Americans specifically, those recruiters are used to handling relocation and qualification questions.
One more thing worth flagging early. For regulated professions, medicine, nursing, and certain engineering and trades, you'll need your qualifications formally recognized by the relevant Portuguese professional body before you can work. Sort that out before you plan the move, not after.
Job hunting from another country is calls, video interviews, and forms that time out right when you're in the middle of them. GigSky One handles that once you're in Portugal.
One eSIM you install once, connected across 120+ countries, your U.S. number still lives for the bank. And because it bills monthly and cancels anytime, it fits that in-between stretch when you're chasing jobs in Portugal for Americans and haven't decided how long you're staying.
The short version, matched to who each role suits:
Wherever you land, line up your qualification recognition early, lead with IEFP and EURES for the shortage roles, and get your connectivity sorted before you fly so the interviews and paperwork don't stall on a dead signal.
%20(1)%201%20(1).webp)
.svg)
.svg){kind=icon}
